Canton McKinley High School survives double OT in OHSAA boys basketball sectional thriller
CANTON — McKinley and Cleveland Heights had their glory days.
Heights head coach JR Bremer reminds his Cleveland Heights Tigers those were someone else's days.
Throughout his team's 79-76 double overtime tournament loss to McKinley Saturday night, he wore the message on the back of his shirt:
"Let go of what was so you can conceive what is."
"What was" was inescapable, though. Bremer is from Cleveland Heights. The Division I boys basketball sectional semifinal was in the famous Memorial Field House.
"We had some battles with McKinley," Bremer said. "I remember the atmosphere here. I remember guarding Keith McLeod."
Jaylen Heard had an overwhelming sense of what is. He is a McKinley senior who understood high school basketball would never be again, for him, unless the Bulldogs won.
"That was on my mind all day … the only thing," he said across the way from Bremer as the building decompressed.
Much of McKinley's first season under head coach Sean Weatherspoon can be construed as "what will be." The Bulldogs, 16-8 now, logged a competitive but not great regular season, beating some good teams and losing to some, with a roster full of juniors and sophomores.
Reed Sims Jr., who scored a game-high 21 points Saturday night, is a productive 6-foot-6 junior who should be stronger and better next year. Ball-handling guard Davey Thompson, who scored 14 points, is just a sophomore.
Je'Cis Moody, who scored 10 points, is the only senior starter. Heard has played played his minutes in spots.
In the fourth quarter and the overtimes, he played almost all of the minutes. He fought for a layup his team sorely needed. With two minutes left in the second overtime, he sank two foul shots to provide a 72-68 lead.
Throughout the 6-3 forward's opportunity, his eyes and his feet were on fire as he patrolled the low blocks on defense, guarding against layups that could end the season.
It got hairy when Heights guard Trevor McPherson was fouled while missing a 3-pointer with one second left in the first overtime. Three makes would have given Heights a 67-66 lead; he made only two.
McKinley took a quick 70-66 lead in the second overtime on two foul shots by Jaylen Jeter and a dunk by Sims. The Bulldogs skated on thin ice the rest of the way.
"I'm a senior, one of two seniors on the team," Heard said. "We all had to pull together.
"The team trusts me. I trust them back. We had a couple of letdowns, but we pushed through.
"The coach pushes us hard in practices and prepares us just for these exact moments.
"It was double overtime. Everybody's going to show that slight fatigue. It all depends on who pushes the hardest, who wants it. That's all it comes down to."
Survival sent the Bulldogs to the district semifinals against GlenOak. The district semifinal will tip off at 7 p.m. Thursday, at Alliance High School.
The other district semifinal in Alliance will pit Louisville against Medina at 7 p.m., Wednesday. The Wednesday and Thursday winners will collide in the district finals at 2 p.m. Saturday.
McKinley's Federal League games against GlenOak were typical of the season, a 64-61 win in overtime at GlenOak on Dec. 14, and a 65-59 win in the Field House on Jan. 26.
The plot thickens. Saturday's crowd was far from "old days," but clusters of fans spread out throughout the Field House rose to the occasion of two overtimes.
The thriller reminded Weatherspoon of a 73-69 overtime win over Brush in the Bulldogs' regular-season finale in the Field House.
"Overall it was a gritty win and I'm proud of my guys," Weatherspoon said. "It's win or go home."
The Heights program has been comparatively quiet compared to the glory days. The Tigers won a state title in 1997 and were state runners-up in 1975 and 1995. The state title team beat McKinley 82-69 in the Canton regional.
McKinley went to final fours in 2002 and 2004 and won state titles in 2005 and 2006, but the Bulldogs haven't been in a final four since.
Weatherspoon knows the traditions, having been a senior starter on McKinley's 2005 title team. He was hired as head coach last April, less than a year after he became head coach at Alliance, where he stayed for just a year.
Now he has a postseason win at McKinley.
The Bulldogs were choppy but pesky.
Their first three possessions ended in turnovers in half-court offense.
They got going on a rebound and long scoop pass by Sims, which was finished on a clean catch and dunk at full speed by Anthony Chavers.
The Bulldogs are coached to score layups fast from any angle anywhere, but Heights was quick, too, and, though shooting poorly early, scrapped and trailed just 26-23 at halftime.
The Tigers got in Sims' face with their best defender, 6-5 senior Jaymen Allen.
Sims had to work for his 21 points. Heights had to work, as well, all night long.
This article originally appeared on The Repository: McKinley beats Cleveland Heights in OHSAA sectional final thriller
